My previous U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,497, issued Nov. 20, 1984, disclosed a manifold arranged to emit a planar jet at a velocity greater than that of flight and in the aft direction below and apart from a lifting wing. The energized jet fluid, supplied by the aircraft propulsion system, would be exhaust or bleed air from a turbojet/turbofan, a planar ramjet, or any other engine compatible with the aircraft propulsion requirements.
The gap between the wing underside and this jet constitutes a planar nozzle which at supersonic speed decreases the flow velocity with a corresponding increase in pressure. The upper jet interface generates a series of negative (counterclockwise) vortices whose strength is determined by the jet/gap velocity ratio. The lower jet interface generates a series of positive (clockwise) vortices whose strength is determined by jet/free-stream velocity ratio. Since the gap flow velocity is less than that of the free stream, the vortices on the upper jet interface are stronger, and their excess strength can provide the required negative circulation reaction to the positive circulation developed by the lifting wing.
Effectiveness of the circulation reaction system provided by this underwing jet can be maximized by enhancing transformation of the residual energy of the jet, which appears as linear velocity, into a rotational form, i.e., by transforming the linear momentum into angular momentum. This transformed jet then provides a more effective reflection boundary to recover energy of the underwing compression waves. Fuselage bow compression energy is also recovered by reflection employing a nose ring, possibly again in conjunction with a jet. This energy recovery improvement, based on reflection, is the subject of the present invention.